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A Better World: Good news on teens

While their elders tend to look critically at American teens, there are many positive trends to be welcomed, The Associated Press reports.

Teens are smoking less, drinking less and fighting less. These trends have been improving since 1991.

Just 16 percent of teens smoked in the previous month, the lowest level since the Centers for Disease Control began tracking it in 1991.

About one-third said they drank liquor in the previous month, down from 37 percent in 2011.

Fights at school fell by 50 percent in the last 20 years.

In addition, teens are wearing seat belts and using bicycle helmets more often.

“Overall, young people have more healthy behaviors than they did 20 years ago,” said Stephanie Zaza, who oversees the government’s two-year study of risky behavior at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

WELCOME RETIREES

Florida again is a magnet for retirees. A troubled housing market made it difficult for many to move south. Now the tradition is resuming, fueled in part by a booming stock market, reports the Pew Charitable Trusts.

The Sunshine State is attracting about 55,000 senior citizen movers each year, which is more than twice the number before the housing bust. The average age of Floridians rose to 41.5 years in 2013.

Weather and a lower cost of living are two reasons to move from cold weather and high tax states like New York.

CONFIDENCE UP

Floridians in June racked up the highest consumer confidence rating since the recession, reports the University of Florida.

All five elements in the survey were up.

Respondents felt better off than a year ago and expect even more improvements in the future. They also feel now is a good time to buy a major appliance.

Even better, the young and low-income households are feeling upbeat.

Some of the indicators were puzzling given still high levels of unemployment. Nevertheless, positive indicators must be given their due.

MORE AFFORDABLE COLLEGES

Colleges, especially land grant universities like the University of Florida, were designed to give working people a leg up.

In recent years, costs have exploded beyond the means of many middle-income and low-income households. Students have been pushed to take on too much debt.

Some universities are working to revive their historic legacy.

Arizona State is seeking to reinvent itself to attract students from the bottom quartile of family income. Just 9 percent of these children obtain a college education. In the top quartile, 80 percent of students obtain college degrees.

At Arizona State about half of the university’s students come from the lower half of the income level.

In Florida, Gov. Rick Scott led the way to more affordable four-year degrees at the state’s colleges like Florida State College at Jacksonville.

More needs to be done. The nation needs to focus on lifetime training after high school in order for workers to remain competitive.

DRIVERLESS CARS

A New York Times reporter took his first ride in a Google driverless car four years ago through California’s streets. He declared his recent ride through a Silicon Valley neighborhood as “uneventful.”

The driverless car changed lanes quickly, obeyed the speed limit and kept a close electronic view on pedestrians.

Google’s self-driving cars have totaled 700,000 miles, concentrating in California but including trips in Florida, Nevada, Texas and Washington, D.C.

The cars have not been in accidents, though a few were bumped from behind.

But the real test needs to come in Jacksonville.

Let’s see how the car fares in the Jacksonville freeway system of speeders, lane-changers and tailgaters.

POSITIVE IDEA IN CONGRESS

While Congress is marked by partisanship, there are a few examples of common-sense efforts to help constituents.

One example is a proposed infrastructure bank to rebuild America’s roads, bridges and other public works.

The proposal by Rep. John Delaney, D-Md., has bipartisan support in the House and Senate.

He would use incentives for corporations to bring back earnings from overseas as well as public-private partnerships.

States and cities could use the funds to finance qualified infrastructure projects. They would pay back loans.

This means no new federal funding, jobs created at the local level and public-private partnerships.

We need more of these good ideas.

WELCOME, FOREIGNERS

International purchasers in Florida’s real estate market have produced a $30 billion impact over the last three years.

It’s no wonder. Florida offers land in one of America’s fastest-growing states, and the residents subsidize your property for hurricanes.

We don’t charge insurance rates that cover the entire cost of risk. Instead, we assess taxes after the fact.

Until that changes, Florida real estate will remain an especially good buy for foreign investors.

An analysis by Florida TaxWatch shows that foreign purchasers often come from Latin America, the Caribbean, Canada and Europe.

This infusion of foreign cash is a good way to increase tax revenues and adds to the opportunity to attract international business.

International purchasers took advantage of depressed real estate markets to pay cash for properties.